The Five Levels of Trust That Drive Success Or Failure

Phillip C. ThomasFounder

Boston Business Group/CXO Leadership Institutewww.bostonbusinessgroup.com

How Trust Affects Your Business, Your Close Relationships, and Your Personal Success

That Simple Word That Affects Every Relationship, Every Deal, and Every

Company.

A Little About My Background…

BYU undergrad; executive development courses at Stanford and Harvard Business Schools

Naval Officer - eight years

6 different CEO level opportunities to

lead/25 years

Also serve as a CEO Group Chair w/Vistage

Int’l Continually seeking to improve my ability to

gain, retain, and extend Trust with others

Leading At The Speed of Trust

Based on the Best-Selling Book by Stephen M. R. Covey

Author Speaker Leader A person I know, admire and trust

• What Is Trust?

• What Key Attributes Form The Basis of Legitimate Trust?

• How Do We Obtain Trust? 

• How Do We Retain Trust? 

• How Do We Regain Trust?

• 13 Key Behaviors That Reflect Trust - And Their Counterfeits

• 5 Areas Where Trust Has A Major Influence In Our Lives – And How They Interconnect

• Trusted Leadership – What It Means In Terms of Growing Your Company

Key Areas of Discussion

Edelman Trust Index - www.edelman.com The 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer sees an

unprecedented nine-point global decline in trust in government.

There is still a yawning trust gap for business.  While traditional media sources are still the most

trusted, the diversification of trusted media sources continues.

In fact, social media, which consists of social networking sites, content-sharing sites, blogs, and micro-blogging sites, saw the biggest percentage increase in trust among media sources.

Trust In Today’s World

The 5 Waves of Trust

“As Trust Is Manifest In Each Successive Wave, The Effect Of Trust Becomes Cumulative And Exponential.”

- Stephen M. R. Covey

The Case for Trust

What Is Trust?

“The Degree Of Confidence Born Of The Character And Competence Of A Person

Or An Organization.”

The Opposite Of Trust Is Suspicion….

“I Could Give A Dictionary Definition, But You Know It When You Feel It. Trust Happens When Leaders Are Transparent, Candid, And

Keep Their Word. It’s That Simple.”

- Jack Welch

Introduction

Trust Myths and RealityMyth Reality

Trust is soft. Trust is hard, real, and measurable.

Trust is slow. Nothing is as fast as the speed of trust.

Trust is built solely on integrity. Trust is a function of both character (which includes integrity) and competence.

Trusting people is too risky. Not trusting people is a greater risk.

Trust is established one person at a time.

Establishing trust with the one establishes trust with the many.

The Case for Trust

The Economics of Trust

Low Trust Adds Cost And Slows Everything Down

The Case for Trust

The Trust Tax

The Economics of Trust

High Trust Lowers Costs And Speeds Up Your Business

The Case for Trust

The Trust Dividend

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The Four Core Elements Of Trust

Personal Trust

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Integrity Consistency, Humility, Courage, Respect

Intent Your Motives, Agendas, Behaviors

Capabilities TASKS: Your talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, & style

Results Your Personal Track Record

What have you actually accomplished? What impact did it have on the business or relationship?

The Four Core Elements Of Trust

Personal Trust

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Think of a high-trust relationship you have What is it like to be around this person? How long does it take to get things done? What is communication like? What kind of results are you able to achieve?

Think of a low-trust relationship you have How does it compare with high trust relationships you enjoy? How does it change the way you operate day to day? At the end of the day, are you drained or uplifted? Does this person build you up or wear you down?

Relationship Trust

Relationship Trust

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13 Behaviors of Trusted Leaders

1. Talk Straight2. Demonstrate Respect3. Create Transparency4. Right Wrongs5. Show Loyalty6. Deliver Results7. Get Better

8. Confront Reality9. Clarify Expectations10. Practice

Accountability11. Listen First12. Keep Commitments13. Extend Trust

Relationship Trust

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13 Counterfeit Behaviors

1. Lie or deceive2. Demonstrate lack of

respect or concern3. Hide, cover up, obscure4. Deny or rationalize

wrong behavior5. Self credit taking,

betraying others6. Fail to achieve7. Become irrelevant

8. In denial; ignore9. Intentional vagueness10. Avoiding or not

“owning up” to a situation

11. Speaking first, not listening

12. Violating promises13. Withholding Trust

Relationship Trust

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Extending Smart Trust

Propensity to Trust Primarily a matter of the heart

Your willingness or tendency to trust others. Instinctual or intuitive “Trust your gut” Experiential based judgment

“It takes 20 years to obtain 20 years of experience…”

Adhering to basic principles or time tested truths

Thoughtful AnalysisPrimarily a matter of the mind

Wisely assessing: The job to be done The risks involved The credibility of the

organization or person involved Their character and

competence Past results Third party endorsements

Relationship Trust

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Extending Smart Trust

Relationship Trust

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Three Conditions1. The nature of the loss2. The importance of the relationship3. The willingness of both parties to restore trust

When others have lost your trust… Don’t be too quick to judge Be quick to forgive Be “smart” about it…but don’t overthink it

When you have lost the trust of others…

Strengthen the 4 Cores of Credibility Behave in ways that inspire trust Be humble and willing to serve without a hidden

agenda

Restoring Trust

Relationship Trust

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Total return to shareholders for organizations

with high trust is almost 3x higher than that of

organizations with low trust.- Human Capital Index

Watson Wyatt Worldwide

The Organizational Trust Dividend

Organizational Trust

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Organizational Trust: Dividends and Taxes

Organizational Trust

Symbols of Low Trust

Organizational Trust

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Symbols of Trust

Organizational Trust

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Can you name some symbols of trust in your organization?

If you were CTO – Chief Trust Officer, what changes in symbols of trust would you make?

Why and with what intent?

Your Symbols of Trust

Organizational Trust

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What Brands Do You Trust –

And Why?

?

Market Trust

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Market Trust in the 21st Century

20th Century 21st Century

Passive consumers. Active participants.

Traditional print-radio-TV advertising.

“Social media” - Internet communities, blogs, video share.

The organization owns and controls the brand “top down.”

Consumers influence and share ownership of the brand.

Market Trust

Dramatic Decline In Market Trust

“In the 1960s, if you introduced a new product, 90 percent of the people who

viewed it for the first time believed the corporate promise.

40 years later, if you performed the same exercise, less than 10 percent of

the public believed it was true.”

- Howard Schultz, Founder, Starbucks

Market Trust

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What is your organization doing in this new world of interconnected communications?

Which behaviors are becoming increasingly important in this new world? “He Posted What?!” (recent attorney presentation)

“Monitoring Off-Duty Conduct”

Everyone’s Talking…

“When You Foul Up Now, It’s Google-able. In The Old Days, You Just Had To Wait Three Days

And No One Would Remember.”

Christopher Buckley, editor, Forbes FYI

Market Trust

33Market Trust

Segmenting Market Trust

Three Attitudes Example

PromoterI recommend them to my friends, I go out of my way to buy from them, I would nearly have an emotional breakdown if they went away.

PassiveI do business with them because they are convenient, but I wouldn’t much care if they went away.

Detractor I would not do business with them myself, and I would warn others to stay away.

34Market Trust

Consistency Counts!

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Does your brand have integrity? How would you know?

Does your brand demonstrate good intent? How is that accomplished?

Is your brand associated with results? Are they legitimately expressed?

What does your brand say about YOU personally? Is your brand an accurate reflection of who you are?

Your Brand

Market Trust

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Societal Trust in the 21st Century

20th Century 21st Century

Business is responsible only to shareholders.

Business is responsible to shareholders and the community at

large.

Unconscious consumers. Socially conscious consumers.

Profit is the measure of success. Profit and contribution are the measures of success.

Societal Trust

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Comparison of Shareholder Return Over A Six-Year Period

Socially Responsible Companies Prosper

Source: “The 100 Best Companies to Work For,” Fortune.

Percentage of Shareholder Return

Societal Trust

Compassion And Cash Flow

“The idea that business is responsible only to its shareholders mortifies me with its narrowness…

Business has to be a force for social change. I can imagine a day will come when compassion counts as much as cash flow.”

- Anita Roddick, founder, The Body Shop

Societal Trust

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Over ten years, New Leaf Paper customers saved the following resources by using post-consumer recycled fiber instead of virgin tree fiber:

1,400,649 fully grown trees 331,001,041 gallons of water 660,267 million BTU’s of energy 66,519,808 pounds of solid waste 115,297,918 pounds of

greenhouse gases

One Example

Societal Trust

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CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility

Trust Taxes Paid by Non-CSR Companies

Global Respondents… EU NorthAmerica

Latin America Asia

Refused to buy their products or use their services. 83% 85% 79% 74%

Refused to work for them. 46% 51% 37% 59%

Refused to invest in them. 72% 80% 61% 65%

Actively demonstrated or protested against them. 24% 14% 42% 23%

Source: Edelman Trust Barometer, survey of 2800 college-educated people in 18 countries.

Societal Trust

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Integrity: What are your values in relation to society?

Intent: What do you intend to do to make a beneficial societal contribution?

Capabilities: What are you uniquely capable of doing to make a societal contribution?

Results: What have you already done to make a meaningful societal contribution?

Integrating With The 4 Cores

Societal Trust

The FundamentalElements of

Trusted Leadership

The Five Levels of Trust That Drive Success Or Failure

Phillip C. ThomasFounder

Boston Business Group/CXO Leadership Institutewww.bostonbusinessgroup.com

How Trust Affects Your Business, Your Close Relationships, and Your Personal Success